Behind The Scenes at the Manila Major
The Manila Major has impressed with great matches and production, but there are special things online viewers don’t get to see or experience. While production has certainly done a good job of showing a glimpse of what Manila and the Philippines are like--with little snippets and clips about the city--it doesn’t quite capture the full experience of attending the event as a foreigner.
Mall of Asia Arena
For anyone who has ever attended a TI at Key Arena, the Mall of Asia Arena would feel very familiar. The venue is pretty similar to Key Arena, with the actual arena shaped rectangularly. The seating arrangement is similar and the stage setup resembles TI5 and the Frankfurt Major as well, with a large cube of screens hanging from the ceiling.
The overall seating capacity is also similar to that of Key Arena (16.000 in SM, 17.000 in Key Arena), but the outside of the Arena is a bit larger and it obviously connects to the Mall of Asia itself, which is the 13th largest mall in the world.
Food is cheaper here, although arena prices exist here as well of course. So while you may get cheap hotdogs for as little as a dollar or less outside of the arena, they cost up to 3-4 dollars here (bundled in a menu, so really still incredibly cheap).
The arena is very clean and the seats are comfortable, although obviously not made for long esports events.
Manila and the Filipino Culture
As a European, travelling to the US opens your eyes a lot towards customer care and service--it may be fake at times to increase a potential tip, but the service is still there. In the Philippines, at least in the richer area of Manila, if you enter a store, there’ll be 5 staff members for one customer. It’s not necessarily a measure to ensure customer happiness, but it certainly can give you a sense of quality service provided. They are nice and mannered and will shower you in “sir’s” and “Thank you’s” when they are the ones providing a service to you. So attending the event you’ll notice that security guards and such are much friendlier and open in general, giving you a more welcome feeling.
Almost everybody here speaks English, to a certain degree anyways. It makes it quite easy to maneuver around and get by. English is essential, as mainstream media is largely transmitted in English.
Dota in the Philippines
When talking about Majors, there are arguments as to whether a certain region or country would deserve to host a Major. Epicenter: Moscow has made a strong case for themselves and Russia, but ESL One Manila and now the Manila Major prove that Southeast Asia and the Philippines deserve it as well. This country and its people live for Dota 2. Your Starbucks barista could know a thing or two about the competitive scene and might very well be the Earthshaker in your next match.
Alliance and Na’Vi are still big teams here and always have been. Dota’s competitive scene hit a peak in 2013 and turned casual players into huge fans of these iconic teams--and they still are, as evident by the cheering during the event. All of this is nothing exclusive to the Philippines, though this notion of attachment to both teams seems much stronger here than anywhere else.
Mineski is of course the home favorite and has thus earned their fair share of applause and glory, but there is no denying that the local fans celebrate the game as a whole and recognize good play, cheering on even good creep blocks.
Comparison to other Majors and Events
When talking to players, managers or casters, the consesus seems to be that the level of hospitality certainly matches that of an International, with only small differences.
For spectators and attendees, it feels rather similar. Early fan meetups were a bit disorganized, badly communicated and short at first, leading to many disappointed fans who stood in line and waited in vain. That said, it has improved since, and there already have been successful meetups, even “photo shoots”.
As stated above, the arena certainly is cleaner due to regular cleaning and more and easier access to trashcans, but also because there is no mentality of just leaving your stuff somewhere (security guards will approach you if they notice that). Thus the air inside the arena is better here as well, though that is also due to the air conditioning.
The atmosphere is certainly the biggest difference here. A fair crowd that doesn’t shy away from clapping for the non-favorites, but when it does come to favorites, they can raise the roof. It’s an exhilerating atmosphere that has to be experienced in person.
lol lol lol
2ND !!
Love the event and how translations are organized. All this pop-up windows with statistic, recaps, nice moments etc. Commentors are doing well too. I was shocked with Na'Vi flawless victory. New era comes !
3rd!!!
ford !!!!
fifth yo
Great major. Happy for the community
yes, and Philippines could be considered as the Mecca of dota/icefrog/euls here in SEA, I might as well say in whole Asia Pacific. Dota2 could grow exponentially here if only there is a stand alone Dota2 client, that is much more like user friendly and easy to understand, as all online games catered here.
Great organisation thats was most beautiful against Shanghai major
Go MVP
Well i really think that, Brazil deserves a Major, South America Needs a Major. Dota 2 Community here is really strong.
Watching the streaming on Twitch, very impressed by the match presentation (And the map! It's gorgeous! Can we have the map as the default map, please ... O.O). One certain thing is that we need more Majors, in which perhaps each will represent specific region (Peru Major, Dubai Major, you name it), with also specific countries/cities being fixed hosts for the Majors.
it was a nice event but the hotdogs were not cheap! also waited hours just to see the teams too many fans trying to see dendiin the end squidballs were more cheaper!
Manila is better than Shanghai no offense but it's true
What I love in the tournament is the crowd, especially when navi vs alliance, the crowd's hypeness bring backs memories (ti3)
13th rofl
"Your Starbucks barista could know a thing or two about the competitive scene and might very well be the Earthshaker in your next match."
We now know Skim's favourite hero. ;)
I like the part about secruity caring abut the enviroment
wooooooooo the hype is real, and dude the hotdog is not cheap if your from the philippines 1$ is good for 2 hotdog sandwiches,
but i see its expensive!
Manila was worth that Major and their execution is awesome.
Yeah, really nothing to complain about with Manila so far -- I've watched a lot and seen no real delays or technical problems. Crowd is awesome, games have been great. :)
Awesome
Awesome matches! Awesome production!
Keep up the good work, boys!
Well I'm an ASM in Starbucks and I could be the Earthshaker in your next match! Going to Manila Majors tomorrow and on June 12! I'm so hyper right now!!!
#VoteWipsArcana